176 



^'EW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



A PAIB OF WHITE SHANGHAE FOWLS. 



The furor which passed over the country a few 

 years ago, and touched nearly every class of our 

 people, in relation to the profits and various 

 breeds of poultry, has nov? subsided into the 

 "sober, second thought," and all are in a posi- 

 tion to judge more considerately of what is pru- 

 dent and pleasant to be done in this part of our 

 domestic economy. 



The farm, certainly, would not be complete 

 without poultry, as there would be considerable 

 loss in some of its products without it ; and the 

 farmer's family, away from markets, could not 

 be accommodated with the eggs and flesh of 

 poultry, unless they are produced on the farm. 

 The convenience of these things is frequently of 

 more consequence than their actual value. 



There will be no doubt about the profit of keep- 

 ing poultry on the mind of those who keep strict 

 accounts; that is, if they manage them judiciously. 

 They do not need a palace, and will not lay any 

 more, or any larger eggs, in such a place than in 

 a pen, provided the latter is light, dry and warm. 

 They require a variety of food, both vegetable 

 and animal, and convenient places for laying, sit- 

 ting and roosting, and under such circumstances 



will yield twice or three times as much profit as 

 the same amount of capital invested in any other 

 stock on ihe farm. 



But it is not on the farm, only, where poultry 

 yields the most pleasure or profit. In the city, 

 they afford the most agreeable "rural sights and 

 sounds," and have a happy influence upon the 

 family, especially its younger portions, beside 

 the convenience and profit derived from their 

 flesh and eggs. 



We are not able to say which, of all the va- 

 ried breeds, are the most profitable, and shall 

 therefore introduce to the reader some spirited 

 engravings of several varieties, with such de- 

 scriptions as we can give of them from personal 

 experiences and the records of them by others. 



The cut now introduced illustrates a pair of 

 pure White Shanghae Foiols. They are entirely 

 white, legs usually feathered. Their eggs are o. 

 a nankeen or dull yellow color, and blunt at both 

 ends. Dr. Eben Wight, of Boston, a gentle- 

 man eminently qualified as a judge of poultry, 

 says of this variety : — These fowls are not slug- 

 gish or stupid ; on the contrary they are intelli- 

 gent and confiding, and are invaluable for the 



